Coming Home
by Ceasefire
Summary: MiyagiShinobu:: Shinobu only wanted one thing as a university graduation present, and that was to see Miyagi's home town. Miyagi couldn't bring himself to say no.


My deepest thanks go to Yhibiki, Yunakitty and Questix for their help in betaing, proof-reading and general suggestions. Possibly also in keeping me sane while I wrote this.

Junjou Romantica is the rightful property of Nakamura Shungiku. This is a fanwork written purely for both your entertainment and mine.

* * *

Miyagi Yoh sighed, blinking tiredly and trying to keep his focus on the road. It had been a long night for both himself and his younger lover, Shinobu, and he was more than happy to be finally heading home. Shinobu groaned a little from the passenger's seat, and Miyagi looked over just in time to see his lover's lips part as he began to softly snore. Smiling lightly, Miyagi turned his attention back to the road.

Tonight had been Shinobu's graduation party. The younger man had finally completed his law degree, and his parents, having the largest house, had offered to host the party for Shinobu and a couple of his friends. Initially, Miyagi hadn't wanted to go at all, but the dean had insisted, and Miyagi had felt that he couldn't refuse. Initially he'd been slightly concerned, because things had been a little tense since they'd revealed their relationship to Shinobu's family, but it seemed everything had calmed down now, and the dean, looking a little pink-faced and tipsy, had even slapped Miyagi on the back and thanked him for setting Shinobu on the right track in life.

The party had gone on into the night, and Miyagi, finally becoming sick of being one of the only ones not allowed to drink, and dragged Shinobu away from his friends and family to the sound of several boos and catcalls.

About five minutes later, Miyagi pulled the car into their parking lot and glanced over at Shinobu. The younger man was still asleep, snoring softly and drooling out of the corner of his mouth. Miyagi grimaced and nudged him.

"Shinobu, we're home."

Shinobu grunted and opened his eyes, scowling a little when he saw Miyagi.

"You should've just carried me upstairs, old man."

"Yeah? Well, I don't need to now," Miyagi said, swinging out of the car, hearing Shinobu grumble and follow him.

Once they got up the stairs, Miyagi fumbled around for his keys, trying to ignore the impatient noises Shinobu was making. Eventually, Shinobu pushed Miyagi out of the way and withdrew his own key, opening the door just as Miyagi retrieved his keys from some deep corner of his pocket. Ever since they'd told Shinobu's parents about their relationship, they'd moved into Miyagi's old apartment together, abandoning the facade of living apart. They both tossed their coats onto the lounge and headed for the bedroom, feeling too tired to care about tidiness for the moment.

They were peeling off their clothes and getting ready for bed when Miyagi suddenly stopped, drawing Shinobu's attention.

"What's wrong?"

"Oh, I forgot to do something," Miyagi said, grabbing Shinobu by the waist and pulling him onto the bed.

"Not tonight, old man," Shinbou groaned, "I have a headache."

"Then maybe you shouldn't drink so much," Miyagi scowled, one eyebrow twitching. "But that's not what I was going to do."

And with that, Miyagi slid his hand through the back of Shinobu's hair and kissed him.

"Happy graduation."

"Thanks," Shinobu smiled, blinking tiredly. "Did they have graduation parties like that when you finished university, back in the Stone Age?"

"Brat," Miyagi frowned, but couldn't maintain his unhappy expression when Shinobu smiled at him. "Anyway, I was thinking I should get you a present to celebrate."

"Let me think about it," Shinobu said, pulling away to stretch and yawn, "Overnight."

"I get the message," Miyagi replied, reaching over to switch off the lamp on the bedside table. "Goodnight, Shinobu."

"Night..." Shinobu mumbled into the pillow, rolling over and curling into the sheets.

* * *

"I want to meet your parents."

Miyagi rolled over, grumbling to himself.

"Shinobu, what time is it?"

"Ten in the morning," Shinobu said off-handedly, frowning as Miyagi rolled over to face away from him. "Don't ignore me, Miyagi!"

"You sure recovered well," Miyagi muttered, before rolling back over to face his frowning lover. "So what was this about meeting my parents?"

"That's what I want as my graduation present," Shinobu said. "I want to meet your parents and spend time in your hometown."

"You've already been there, remember?" Miyagi said, scratching the back of his head.

"Yeah, but last time I didn't get to see it, really..." Shinobu paused briefly, biting his lip, "Really only that hotel room and... the cemetery."

"Please stop looking like that, you're making me feel bad," Miyagi said, propping himself up onto his elbows. "May I just ask you why you're so interested?"

"Well, you never talk about yourself, for one thing," Shinobu frowned. "And you're my lover. I have every right to know everything about you!"

"My life really isn't as exciting as you apparently think it is," Miyagi replied, "Besides, there's not really much to see there, unless you like vegetable farms. You'd get bored pretty quickly."

"I wouldn't care as long as I was with you."

"It's a long drive. And you'd have nothing to do on the way."

"We'd have each other for company. And besides... last time I slept the whole way! I could just look out the window."

"You should be thinking about your future! You should be going out and looking for a job, or work experience."

"I've already been accepted as an intern at a law firm about twenty minutes away from here. I start in two weeks."

"... Why don't you ever mention these things?"

"I thought you would have learned to ask by now."

"Urgh," Miyagi said, rubbing his hand over his face. "I'll think about it. Anyway, I've slept in long enough. I've got to go into the office for a while. Not all of us have two weeks to relax before they enter the real world."

"I'll make lunch, then. So make sure you don't take too long."

"Fine, fine," Miyagi said, sliding out of bed and digging around in the cupboard for a clean shirt. "Are we still on asparagus?"

"Yes, I still haven't got it completely right yet."

"All right," Miyagi said, shivering a little as he felt Shinobu's eyes on his turned back. "I'm looking forward to it, Shinobu-chin."

When Miyagi made it to the office, a sleep-deprived and annoyed-looking Kamijou Hiroki was there to greet him.

"Kamijou! Coming in on a Saturday? I admire your work ethic."

"Actually, because you're lucky enough to be involved with the dean's brat and got to leave work early yesterday, the dean thought it would be fine to reassign writing the end of semester exam and all the associated photocopying to me while you went to celebrate," Hiroki scowled, pedantically shuffling through a stack of papers to look for photocopy errors.

"Sorry about that," Miyagi replied, "I can do all the stapling."

"Nice to see you working hard, Professor."

"Don't be that way, Kamijou!"

"Please just help me finish these papers, professor," Hiroki said, "And then we can both leave."

Miyagi nodded, and the two of them fell into a comfortable silence for a while, but then it occurred to Miyagi that this would probably be a good chance to ask Kamijou about the subject of lovers meeting parents while still partially avoiding the subject.

"Hey, Kamijou."

"Hmm?"

"Have you ever taken your boyfriend to meet your parents?"

Hiroki choked on his own tongue, and Miyagi's smiled broadened.

"W-why are you asking me?!"

"Well, it's just that I have this friend who owes his lover a favour, you see. And said lover wants to meet his parents and see his hometown."

"W-well, I tried to. Just once! My parents weren't home. And I haven't tried since because..."

"Because what?" Miyagi said, already knowing the answer after recalling a conversation he and Kamijou had almost five years prior.

"Never mind!" Hiroki snapped, walking to the other side of the room to slam the photocopy machine shut, whilst ranting under his breath about "stupid Nowaki" and his "stupid romantic gestures".

"You should try contacting your mother, Kamijou. I'm sure she'll be happy to hear you're doing well."

"Shut up! We're not talking about me! We're talking about you!"

"You mean my friend."

"... yes, your friend," Hiroki scowled.

"So, what do you suggest my friend does?"

"I'd say he does whatever his brat lover wants to gives his assistant a bit of peace and quiet for a couple of days," Hiroki muttered, turning away from Miyagi to stack the stapled papers.

"What was that, Kamijou?" Miyagi beamed, and Hiroki turned back towards his superior.

"I'd say he should do what his lover wants, as part of a relationship is knowing each other as well as one knows oneself, Professor," Hiroki replied loudly.

"Thanks," Miyagi said, frowning a little. "Well, I'd better get going. Can you finish up from here? Shinobu-chin's making us lunch so I have to get home."

"No problem," Hiroki said, trying to keep the sarcasm out of his voice.

"That's the spirit, Kamijou. I'll see you next week."

Once Miyagi left, Hiroki rolled his eyes and picked up the papers.

"Stupid Professor. He's so whipped on that brat."

* * *

Miyagi sat at the dining table, picking at the salmon and asparagus sushi Shinobu had prepared, deep in thought.

"What's wrong?" Shinobu questioned. His plate had been completely cleaned of food. He'd always had a healthy appetite, to say the very least.

"Nothing."

"I know I didn't steam the asparagus for too long this time around. And I didn't put on too much wasabi."

"It's not the food."

"Then hurry up and eat, old man," Shinobu responded, frowning and pointing at Miyagi's plate.

"Sorry, Shinobu-chin. I guess I'm just thinking about this morning."

"Oh," Shinobu said, placing his hand back at his side and avoiding Miyagi's eyes. "You don't have to if you don't want to."

"You say that, but your face says different," Miyagi replied.

"Sorry. I just..." Shinobu started, but drifted off.

"It's not that I don't want to. It's more the fact that I haven't been back to my hometown for more than a day in about fifteen years. And my relationship with my parents is..." Miyagi grimaced, "... weird."

"... Sorry."

"Stop apologizing," Miyagi chuckled, smiling at his lover from across the table, "I thought it over on the way home, and I suppose I can take you if you really want to go."

"Really?" Shinobu replied, eyes widening.

"Don't look so shocked, brat," Miyagi smirked, "I don't mind doing this."

"So, when can we go?"

"Next week is the last week of exams. We can go on the week before you start work."

"Yeah," Shinobu replied, smiling just a little. Miyagi grinned, happy to see Shinobu happy, and finally bit into one of the pieces of sushi.

"Hmm, this is pretty good."

"Good. Tomorrow I'll be starting on tomatoes, so be prepared."

"Great," Miyagi sighed and began finishing off his sushi, suddenly savouring it, knowing it would be the only thing he'd have for a while that didn't taste like tomato.

* * *

A week later, Miyagi and Shinobu packed up enough clothes to last them for a few days, and left in the early morning on the long drive to Miyagi's hometown. They were going to arrive in the early afternoon, check into their hotel and spend the night, and then walk around the town and go to meet Miyagi's parents the next day. On the final day, they'd effectively just pack up and head back home.

Miyagi was concentrating on the road, occasionally looking over at Shinobu, who was staring out the open window silently, occasionally blinking lazily when his hair blew into his eyes.

"All right there, Shinobu-chin?"

Shinobu hummed an affirmative, and Miyagi grinned briefly, then turned back to the road. It was getting a little colder as they drove farther away from the city, and Shinobu retrieved his jumper from his bag and wrapped it around his shoulders.

"This drive seems to be taking a lot longer than last time."

"Last time you slept most of the way. I told you there's not much to look at. I could put on music, if you like."

"What have you got?"

"Enka Classics, The Best of Jero..."

"No thanks," Shinobu scowled, Miyagi snorted, and they both fell back into silence.

After a few minutes, Miyagi heard Shinobu squirm in the passenger's seat.

"Hmm?"

"Your parents always send you vegetables, right?"

"Right."

"Do they own a farm or something? Did you eat cabbage and pumpkin every day back then, too?"

"Yeah, they're vegetable farmers. And we mostly ate our own produce."

Shinobu's head snapped around to look at Miyagi, mouth open, and Miyagi cocked an eyebrow at him.

"I was kidding!"

"Well, I'm not."

"S-so you grew up on a farm?" Shinobu started, changing the subject, face flushed.

"Yeah. It's not a big place. My parents did most of the work, and my sister and I helped out when we weren't in school."

"Sister?"

"Five years younger than me. She went to America for university, then got citizenship and married an American," Miyagi said, as Shinobu looked a little hurt, "So it's not like I've been preventing you two from meeting out of fear or shame or anything like that."

"And what about your parents?" Shinobu murmured.

"Like I said... my relationship with them isn't really that typical," Miyagi said, grasping the steering wheel until his knuckles turned white.

"... Do you think they'll be mad?"

"Who?"

"Your parents."

"No."

"How can you be so sure?" Shinobu replied, looking nervous despite himself.

"I've already told them about you, and they didn't seem mad."

"What?" Shinobu shouted, and Miyagi jumped so much that he almost swerved off the road.

"What's wrong with that?!" Miyagi snapped back, "Geez, you almost killed us both..."

"I don't... I mean, I expected your parents to be..."

"What?" Miyagi scowled.

"... traditional, I guess," Shinobu said, blushing to the tips of his ears.

"You'd be wrong," Miyagi frowned, "You'll see what I'm talking about when we get there."

"How far away are we?"

"We'll be there by evening, because we left early."

Shinobu looked at Miyagi questioningly, but the older man had turned back to the road. Shinobu sighed after a few minutes, and went back to staring at the landscape that rushed past as they drove farther and farther out of the city.

* * *

They arrived in Miyagi's hometown in the late evening, and effectively checked into the hotel and then went straight to bed so they woke up at a decent time. Sure enough, they got an early start the next morning; dressed in warm clothes, they walked out into the town, bought breakfast at a small cafe, and then headed off to sightsee.

"I want to see where you went to school," Shinobu said after about two hours of walking, and Miyagi attempting to show him some of the few things in the small town that he could deem memorable for tourists.

"Why? That's not that exciting."

"I wanted to come here so I could know more about you," Shinobu replied, glancing up at Miyagi, a little defiantly, "And this is my present, after all."

"Okay, okay," Miyagi sighed, beginning to walk back towards the main street of the town. About twenty minutes later, they arrived at their destination. School was in and they couldn't enter the gates, so they made do with walking around the perimeter instead.

"Over there," Miyagi said, pointing to a large tree in one corner of the school grounds, "In my senior year I used to cut class and sit beneath that tree and smoke. I used to get in a lot of trouble when I got caught."

"When?" Shinobu asked, "Don't you mean if?"

"Sensei always knew," Miyagi replied, with a half-smile, "She thought I was doing it to get her attention."

"... Oh," Shinobu said, frowning, and Miyagi immediately felt guilty.

"I'm sorry, Shinobu-chin."

"No, I'm fine," Shinobu said, voice even, "I wanted to know about you. Everything about you. And she's part of your past."

"... As long as you don't mind."

"I don't."

"... All right," Miyagi smiled, briefly gripping Shinobu's hand in his own before continuing on.

They sat down to rest on a bench at a nearby park, and Shinobu edged closer to Miyagi as the older man lit up a cigarette.

"Why did you leave here?"

"For university, mainly," Miyagi replied, pausing to take a long drag. "I wanted more than this place could offer."

Shinobu nodded and placed his hand on Miyagi's arm, gently gripping his sleeve as he continued to smoke. Once he was done, Miyagi stood up.

"You've pretty much seen everything remotely exciting, Shinobu-chin. We'll walk back to the hotel room and get ready to go to my parents' home."

"... Okay," Shinobu responded, standing up quickly and walking to catch up with his lover, "I like it here. It's nice and quiet."

"You're pretty much the opposite of me, when I was your age," Miyagi chuckled. "Come on, let's get going."

--

It was only a short drive from their hotel room to the Miyagi household. When they arrived, Miyagi must have noticed Shinobu craning his neck to see around the actual house, because he chuckled and ruffled Shinobu's neatly combed hair.

"The farming land is behind the house."

"Are you sure they'll be all right with this?"

"Positive. They've known about us for a while."

"I've met them before," Shinobu muttered, frowning, "That time, at the Imperial Hotel."

"Yeah, they yelled at me for being late," Miyagi snorted. "Then again, they're always looking for an excuse to yell at me like I'm a kid throwing a tantrum."

Shinobu opened his mouth to reply, but he was interrupted by a tiny, dark-haired woman running over to his lover and giving him a bone-crushing hug.

"There you are, Yoh!"

"Hello, Mother," Miyagi said, face turning slightly red.

"Really, Yoh. That's all you have to say after so many years?" the woman huffed, pulling away from Miyagi. Once she'd parted from her son, Shinobu got the chance to look at her. She was much shorter than both of them, and wore a flowered kimono. Her dark hair was done up in a tight bun, and she didn't look nearly as old as he remembered - or expected - her to look. Then again, when he was 15, every adult had seemed old. He didn't see much resemblance between mother and son, until she turned to look at him; it was then he realised their eyes were similar, if not near identical.

"And you must be Shinobu-kun!"

Shinobu was treated to the same smothering hug as Miyagi, and he gasped out a hello as Miyagi's mother pulled away from him, frowning.

"You're all skin and bones! Doesn't Yoh feed you properly?"

"Actually, I'm usually the one that does the cooking," Shinobu muttered, and Mrs. Miyagi turned back to her son.

"You're so inconsiderate, Yoh!"

"Mother," Miyagi groaned, and Shinobu marveled at the woman's ability to reduce her son's maturity level by about twenty-five years.

"Thank you for inviting us over, Miyagi-san," Shinobu said, bowing slightly, and Asami beamed.

"Such a polite boy, too," Asami nodded approvingly, "And please call me Asami."

"He's not usually this polite," Miyagi chuckled, and Shinobu glared at him.

"Really, Yoh. Living in the city has made you awfully moody," Asami smiled, and beckoned them inside, taking their coats at the doorway. She showed them into the dining room, and Shinobu noticed the slightly imposing man sitting at the head of the table; he knew immediately whom Miyagi had inherited his appearance from.

"Ah, so you did show up, Yoh," the man said, eyeing Miyagi, "Really. I thought the next time you'd be in this town willingly, it would be for my funeral."

"Sorry, Father," Miyagi responded, dragging Shinobu in front of him to change the subject. Shinobu immediately bowed, feeling as if he'd never been polite in his entire life before this day.

"Takatsuki Shinobu."

"Miyagi Kouichirou," Miyagi's father responded, and then looked at his son and chuckled.

"It seems as if it's impossible for you to fall for someone your own age, Yoh."

"No, no," Asami said, walking into the room with drinks, "He married that Takatsuki girl and that fell apart."

"Ah, that's right. Both Takatsuki, hmm?"

"They're siblings, dear. Don't you remember?"

"Oh, that's true," Kouichirou eyed Shinobu, then turned to his son. "This one seems like he'd be less trouble than his sister. She seemed awfully demanding."

"Don't be rude, dear," Asami said, beaming as she poured them all drinks. "Dinner's on the stove, and should be ready in about half an hour."

Miyagi nudged Shinobu under the table, as if to say See what I meant?!, but Shinobu just smiled back.

While Asami was preparing their meal, Miyagi, Kouichirou and Shinobu took the time to talk.

"So, Shinobu-kun, what do you do for a living?"

"I just finished my law degree," Shinobu said, pausing briefly to sip his drink, "I start my internship next week."

"A fine career choice," Kouichirou nodded, "We wanted Yoh to study medicine, but he had his heart set on literature."

"I don't know how you thought I could ever be a surgeon," Miyagi said, "I used to almost pass out at the sight of blood."

"You would have overcome that," Kouichirou replied, drinking deeply from his glass.

"Thank you for inviting us for dinner," Shinobu said.

"No problem at all," Kouichirou replied, "It seems as if it's been a century since we saw hide or hair of our son, and we've been dying to meet you since Yoh told us about you. He phoned us up... it would have to be almost five years ago now, asking us to send down some home-grown cabbages because his new lover enjoyed cooking them for him. Mama ended up sending down a whole bunch of assorted vegetables, and Yoh never even called to thank us! Can you imagine? How did we raise such a rude son?"

Shinobu looked over at Miyagi, feeling a little overcome by emotion, and Miyagi coughed, looked away and stiffly raised his arm to drink from his glass. Shinobu supposed it was a bad time to mention that Miyagi had intended to call them and thank them, but Shinobu had sat in his lap, completely naked, and told him to do it later. That had apparently been enough to send Miyagi's mind blank.

About fifteen minutes later, Asami came into the room with dinner (grilled fish, steamed rice, and a number of side dishes containing vegetables) and a refill for their drinks, and then the four of them settled down and began to eat.

"Shinobu-kun, I heard you say you're a lawyer from the kitchen," Asami beamed as she refilled his drink, and then moved onto Miyagi.

"Yes. Starting my internship next week," Shinobu confirmed.

"That's a good career path to take. You must have studied awfully hard to get the grades to get into a course like that! Where did you study for university?"

"T Uni."

"Oh, that is impressive," Asami replied, "I'm surprised Yoh got accepted into university on his first attempt. He was such a brat in high school, we were starting to become concerned."

"I wasn't that bad," Miyagi replied, violently biting into his fish the moment his mother was seated, and his father had taken the first bite.

"Oh, please. Cutting class to smoke in the school grounds? Speaking of which, Yoh, have you quit smoking yet? It's bad for your health!"

"I'll quit when I die," Miyagi replied stubbornly, and Asami turned to her husband, a look of utter defeat on her face.

"Dear, how did we manage to raise such a stubborn child?"

Miyagi sighed as his parents shook their heads, and Shinobu grinned.

"This is delicious," Shinobu said after tasting the vegetable dish that Asami had placed on the table in front of him. "Could you possibly give me the recipe?"

"I'd be happy to," Asami replied, "I'm sure father will be happy to give you some vegetables to take home."

"I can take you out into the fields after dinner," Kouichirou nodded.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome."

"... When did you two get married?" Shinobu asked, changing the subject, and Asami beamed.

"Oh, Kouichirou and I met in high school. He was a year ahead of me, and once I was done with school, we got married. Yoh was born when I was twenty, and his sister was born when I was twenty-five."

"Your sister still calls us from America, Yoh," Kouichirou commented. "That must cost her a great deal of money, but she still calls more than you."

"Alright, alright," Miyagi sighed, finishing off the last of his rice. "I get it. I need to phone you more."

"It took you long enough to realise."

"So, how did you and Yoh get together, Shinobu-kun?" Kouichirou asked, and Shinobu recounted the tale in the shortest way he possibly could.

"He was worried about our age gap when we first became lovers," Shinobu said, and Asami shook her finger at her son.

"You shouldn't doubt someone's feelings just because they're young, Yoh. You sound just like our parents did when we were married."

Miyagi sighed and rubbed his forehead as Asami cleared their plates.

"Do you need any help, Asami-san?" Shinobu asked.

"No, I'll be fine. Go out and get some vegetables with Yoh and Father."

Once they were outside, Kouichirou presented both Shinobu and Miyagi with boxes to carry the vegetables in, told them to take as many as they could carry, and walked inside to see how Asami was doing.

"This is what I left home to avoid," Miyagi groaned, standing up and rubbing his back, "Backbreaking harvesting work."

"I don't mind it," Shinobu replied, brushing some soil off the cabbage he'd just placed in the box, before heading down to where the tomatoes were planted, "This place seems like it was made for me."

"Hmm?"

"A limitless supply of vegetables for me to practice on," Shinobu said, frowning when Miyagi laughed, and smirking when he stopped short.

"What, you want to stay at home and cook all day?" Miyagi asked, chuckling, "Like a housewife."

"Don't be stupid, Miyagi," Shinobu deadpanned, "That would get boring too quickly."

Asami suddenly appeared from inside the house, brandishing a bottle.

"Shinobu-kun! Would you like to join Father and I for a drink?"

"What about me?" Miyagi asked, tossing a couple of extra vegetables into his box before walking back towards the house.

"None for you, Yoh. You have to drive home."

"Shinobu can drive too."

"He's our guest," Asami said, and that was the end of that.

An hour later, Shinobu was feeling a little light-headed, and Miyagi was not-so-subtly hinting that he and Shinobu should get going.

"You can stay here tonight, if you like," Asami said, "You can sleep in Yoh's old room."

"No, no, we've already paid for the hotel room for the night," Miyagi said, grabbing Shinobu's arm as the younger man tripped over his own feet and out the front door.

"Well, drive carefully," Kouichirou nodded at his son, while Asami tugged Miyagi down by the ear for a kiss on the cheek.

"Shinobu-kun, make sure you get my horrible son to call me sometimes," Asami smiled. Shinobu nodded, stopping when his head began swimming, and Miyagi tugged him towards the car. Kouichirou placed the boxes of vegetables in the trunk of the car, and Miyagi started up the engine, briefly sticking his hand out of the window to wave to his parents as he pulled out onto the main road.

Shinobu felt drowsy the whole way home, and only opened his eyes once he felt the car come to a stop.

"You really are a lightweight, Shinobu-chin," Miyagi sighed, and Shinobu frowned lightly and got out of the car, hearing Miyagi sigh again as he was dragged towards the elevator.

"I'm not trusting you to walk up the stairs tonight," Miyagi said, digging in his pocket for the key card that opened the lock on their hotel room door. He found it in surprisingly short time, and then gently guided Shinobu over to one of the beds in the room.

"Stay there," Miyagi said, "I'll find something to sober you up."

"Alright," Shinobu said, face flushed red. Miyagi looked over at him and blinked, feeling confused.

"What's wrong?"

"Last time we were in this hotel..." Shinobu started, and Miyagi blinked once more, then chuckled.

"Yeah, I guess it is a bit nostalgic," Miyagi grinned, "I'll go get some ice from the ice machine to put in your glass. Would you like some tap water until then?"

"I'm fine, Miyagi," Shinobu said, sitting up a little.

"You're still going to have water until you sober up," Miyagi said, disappearing around the door with the ice bucket from the room.

Miyagi returned with the ice a few minutes later to find Shinobu laying back against the pillows, eyes shut.

"Here's your water," Miyagi said, holding out the glass. Shinobu took it, taking a sip and catching an ice cube between his teeth, crunching on it and wincing a bit at the cold.

"... Miyagi?"

"Hmm?"

"Thank you for all of this."

"It's fine."

"I really enjoyed myself."

Miyagi grinned down at Shinobu, who was seemingly trying to pull his button-up shirt over his head. He unbuttoned the top two buttons on Shinobu's shirt, fingers brushing against his collarbone.

"As long as you had fun, Shinobu."

"I did," Shinobu confirmed, peeling off his socks and throwing them to the floor. He leaned against Miyagi's shoulder, hair tickling the older man's cheek.

Miyagi smiled, itching for a smoke, but not wanting to leave Shinobu. He looked away briefly, searching for his packet of cigarettes, but was surprised when Shinobu placed his hand against his cheek and turned him back towards him, kissing him softly on the lips.

"Thank you," Shinobu murmured, and Miyagi smiled, kissing him in return, opening his eyes in surprise as Shinobu's tongue darted between his lips.

"You're always a surprise, Shinobu-chin," Miyagi chuckled, discarding his shirt and unbuttoning his pants. Shinobu discarded his own pants, placed himself in Miyagi's lap and kissed him again, pressing him down and tugging away at his boxers.

"Cheeky brat," Miyagi murmured, fingers brushing Shinobu's thighs.

"Miyagi?"

"Hmm?"

Shinobu sat up briefly, discarding his boxers as he went.

"Shut up."

Miyagi smirked as Shinobu sat back in his lap, hips jerking forward.

"I know a good idea when I hear it."

* * *

"I'm glad you asked me to come here," Miyagi smiled, running his hands along the small of Shinobu's back and down to his thighs. The room was dark, but his senses felt heightened, and all of them were focused on Shinobu.

"You did owe me, after all... ahh," Shinobu moaned softly as Miyagi impaled him, hips sinking down lower. Shinobu shut his eyes and leaned his head back as he felt Miyagi's fingers entangle in his hair, gasping softly as the older man wrapped his arms around him, drawing him close and kissing the base of his neck. His face and chest felt hot from the alcohol, and his skin felt overly sensitive when Miyagi touched him, making him shudder as his lover's fingers slid along his shoulder blades.

"Cheeky brat," Miyagi murmured, voice muffled against Shinobu's shoulder. He had to admit, he'd been surprised when Shinobu had kissed him, but he was more than willing to accept. It was a special few days, after all. All of the moments they spent together were precious; however, Miyagi always felt happiest when he and Shinobu were together like this. It was easy to let trivial worries and stresses fade against Shinobu's skin, let his mind be left blank by the soft little gasps and moans that escaped from Shinobu's lips.

"Miyagi," Shinobu breathed, "Remember when we were here, five years ago?"

"How could I forget?" Miyagi chuckled lightly, trying his best to keep his breathing even as Shinobu began to move his hips in rough, experimental movements.

"I love you as much now as I did then, you know," Shinobu said, leaning in to press a moist kiss to Miyagi's lips.

"Mmm, I know."

"Do you feel the same?"

"Of course I do," Miyagi said, briefly kissing the shell of Shinobu's ear.

Shinobu hummed, seemingly happy with Miyagi's response, and his hips beginning to shift in slow, even movements. Miyagi moaned, leaning down just enough to tease Shinobu's nipple with his tongue, kissing and grazing his teeth along the sensitive spot when his lover gasped. Shinobu squirmed as close as he could to Miyagi, legs sprawled behind the older man's body, arms draped around his neck. Miyagi chuckled low in his throat; every time they were together, he was reminded of how truly adorable Shinobu was.

"Miyagi," Shinobu hissed, biting down on his lower lip and shifting a little, preparing to adjust his pace.

"Shinobu," the older man groaned as Shinobu began to move a little faster, a little unevenly, feeling as if he was belatedly responding to the younger man's moaning of his own name.

It was hard for him to think of anything else now; on the other hand, it seemed far easier to concentrate on the little quirks in Shinobu's actions that he would have otherwise missed under normal circumstances. The way the younger man's eyes narrowed and then shut in concentration as he settled on a pace for their movements, the way his fingers flexed against the nape of Miyagi's own neck, the way he bit his lip as he slid down upon him, the slight tremble of his legs as he braced himself and moved faster.

He doubted that he could have thought this at any other time and not scolded himself, but at that moment, in his mind, Shinobu was absolutely perfect.

Miyagi growled Shinobu's name, gripping the younger man's hips and finishing inside of him, hearing Shinobu's appreciative hum as he reached between them, fingers brushing the inside of his thigh before he curled his hand around his lover. Shinobu finished shortly after that, his release spilling onto Miyagi's hand and stomach as he jerked forward, desperately, into Miyagi's grasp.

"I love you," Miyagi breathed, and Shinobu smiled, fingers brushing against Miyagi's cheek briefly. He eased away and fell back against the bed, feeling slightly giddy, satisfied and lazy as Miyagi followed him, knocking the wind out of him as he landed on top.

"I love you too."

* * *

The next morning, they checked out of their hotel, briefly drove past the Miyagi family home to bid farewell to his parents, and then hit the road, wanting to make it back home early.

Shinobu was once again staring out the window, jumper zipped up to his chin, hair dancing across his face.

"What are you thinking, Shinobu-chin?"

Shinobu turned around to look at Miyagi, who was dividing his focus between his lover and the road.

"I was just thinking how nice it would be to retire out here."

"You haven't even started working yet, Shinobu-chin."

"But you're getting on a little, old man."

"I'm not even forty yet," Miyagi replied, pouting; Shinobu ignored him.

"I wonder if the town needs a law firm. If it does, I could open up my own firm here once you retire from teaching."

Miyagi sighed, turning his attention back to the road and trying to ignore Shinobu as he wondered about land prices in the area.

He had a sneaking suspicion that he'd be returning home again sooner than he thought.

**END**

Comments are greatly appreciated.


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